Table Of ContentLEVERAGING WHO YOU KNOW BY WHAT YOU KNOW: SPECIALIZATION AND RETURNS TO
RELATIONAL CAPITAL*
Heejung Byun
[email protected]
Justin Frake
[email protected]
Rajshree Agarwal
[email protected]
Conditionally accepted at Strategic Management Journal.
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the interaction effects of specialization and relational capital on performance.
We distinguish between upstream and downstream relational capital, and theorize that higher levels
of specialization will buffer against decreases in upstream relational capital, because of deeper
domain expertise and stronger downstream relational capital. Conversely, higher levels of
generalization permit greater gains from increases in upstream relational capital, due to leverage
across a more diversified downstream portfolio of activities. We test and find support for these
hypotheses in the context of the US lobbying industry. Our study contributes to the strategic human
capital literature by isolating the specialization and relational capital dimensions embodied within
individuals, and providing performance implications of the interactions.
Keywords: Specialization, relational capital, lobbying industry
* All authors contributed equally. We are grateful for comments from two anonymous reviewers, Ben Campbell, Seth
Carnahan, Martin Ganco, Samina Karim, David Krycsynski, John Mawdsley, Joe Raffie, Deepak Somaya, and seminar
participants at the University of Maryland and the 2016 Strategic Management Society. All remaining errors are ours.
INTRODUCTION
Specialization (what you know) and relational capital (who you know) are key dimensions of human
capital, impacting both value creation and capture. Both firms and individuals benefit from
investments in human capital (Campbell, Coff, and Kryscynski, 2012; Castanias and Helfat, 1991,
2001; Coff, 1997; Gambardella, Ganco, and Honoré, 2014; Karim and Williams, 2012). Prior studies
have separately investigated the performance effects of specialization (Castanias and Helfat, 1991;
Cusódio, Ferreira, & Matos, 2013; Ferguson and Hasan, 2013; Murphy and Zabojnik, 2004;
Zuckerman et al., 2003) and relational capital (Burt, 1992; Carnahan and Somaya, 2013; Somaya,
Williamson, and Lorinkova, 2008). However, fewer studies explore whether specialization interacts
with relational capital to impact performance. In part, this is because the inextricable linkages
between specialization and relational capital make it difficult to isolate their main and interaction
effects on performance (c.f. review in Mawdsley and Somaya, 2016). In this paper, we develop and
test a theory about their interactions to answer the following research questions: Are the
performance benefits of relational capital dependent on the level of specialization? Do the benefits
hinge on whether there is an increase or decrease in relational capital?
The answers to these questions are neither theoretically obvious nor easy to empirically
disentangle. Theoretically, it is unclear whether level of specialization or generalization interacts
more strongly with relational capital for performance benefits. Also, for the focal actor, relational
capital accrues in both upstream (supplier) relationships for access to key resources (e.g. Hoetker,
2005) and downstream (client) relationships for enhanced revenue generation (e.g. Somaya et al.,
2008). However, current research examines each in isolation, leaving unanswered the question of
how both types of relational capital may matter simultaneously. Empirically, the answers require a
research design with clearly separable measures for specialization and relational capital, and
methodologies for addressing potential endogeneity.
Integrating insights from human capital, career specialization, and relational/social capital
literatures, we hypothesize specialization creates a buffer from the negative effects of decreases in
upstream relational capital because of deeper domain expertise and greater embeddedness in
downstream client relationships. Specialization is not universally advantageous, however; we predict
generalization results in the ability to better leverage increases in upstream relational capital because
diverse knowledge translates into broader downstream client networks.
The interplay of specialization and relational capital is important in professional services,
where firms rely almost entirely on their employees’ knowledge and relational capital to create and
capture value. We test our hypotheses in one such context: the US lobbying industry. Lobbyists
differ in their level of specialization, some have deep expertise in one or few issues, while others
span across multiple and diverse domains. Also, many lobbyists have prior federal government work
experience with politicians responsible for making critical policy decisions. These relationships act as
valuable resources, serving as upstream relational capital that enables lobbyists to provide better
services to their clients. Our research design exploits exogenous changes in the power of US house
and senate members as sudden changes to the value of lobbyists’ upstream relational capital. The
unforeseen timing of these events, in conjunction with individual fixed-effects, permits us to isolate
the interaction effect of upstream relational capital with the level of specialization.
Consistent with prior studies (Bermiss and Greenbaum, 2015; Blanes i Vidal, Draca, and
Fons-Rosen, 2012), we show the value of upstream relational capital in this industry: lobbyists gain
revenue when their political connections gain power and lose revenue when their political
connections lose power. More specifically to our main propositions, we find specialization buffers
performance from decreases in upstream relational capital, while generalization permits greater gains
from increases in upstream relational capital. These results are robust to a number of alternative
specifications that address potential sampling, selection and measurement errors, and alternative
causal mechanisms at play, such as career dynamics and endogeneity of the level of specialization.
Our findings contribute to the literature streams we draw upon. Within the strategic human
capital literature (Campbell et al., 2012; Mawdsley and Somaya, 2016; Nyberg and Wright, 2015), we
contribute by integrating literature streams on relational capital and specialization, and examining
their separate and interactive effects on performance. We inform work in relational capital by
explicating differences in upstream and downstream relational capital for the focal actor (Hoetker,
2005; Kale, Singh, and Perlmutter, 2000; Somaya et al., 2008) and illuminating how one type of
relational capital may be leveraged with the other, based on specialization. In other words, we
contribute by showing gains in upstream relational capital serve as a “general purpose technology”
which provides greater returns to generalists because it can be leveraged across a diversified
downstream client base (Conti, Gambardella, and Novelli, 2016). At the same time, losses in
upstream relational capital can be offset by deeper downstream embeddedness and domain
expertise. Finally, within the career specialization literature, a few studies have identified conditions
under which specialization may yield differential benefits. We contribute to the current debate on
the benefits of specialization vs. generalization (Merluzzi and Phillips, 2016) to show an important
conditioning factor relates to the interaction with relational capital. Finally, we show generalists are
not always better positioned for “dynamic environments” (Hannan and Freeman, 1977; Uzzi, 1997).
We find advantages of an environmental change depends on the direction of the change, not merely
its existence. For managers, our study implies that firms and individuals can craft better strategies by
considering the interactions and tradeoffs between “what you know” and “who you know.”
THEORY
Individuals create value by leveraging prior investments in human capital. Harking back to
Becker (1962), a key dimension of human capital relates to “what you know.” Knowledge can differ
in the level of specialization, and differential investments in specialization and expertise through
education, training, and experience have consequences for both individual and organizational
performance (Coff, 1997; Ferguson and Hasan, 2013; Miller, Zhao, and Calantone, 2006; Nyberb
and Wright, 2015)1. Organizational theorists have also argued for advantages of career specialization
because it leads to clearer identities (Leung, 2014; Zuckerman et al., 2003). A second dimension is
relational capital, or “who you know.” Relational capital fosters mutual trust among individuals and
1 The literatures on human capital and strategic human capital are intertwined, yet distinct. As Nyberg and Wright (2015)
note, human capital literature focuses on individuals’ ability to create and capture value in the marketplace, and strategic
human capital literature focuses on how firms may build and gain strategic advantages through their human capital. Our
study is chiefly about human capital (and at the individual level of analysis), but we borrow and extend insights in the
strategic human capital perspective too, inasmuch as firms in professional services rely disproportionally on human
capital for their performance, relative to other contexts such as high technology (Teece, 1986, 2003).
results in superior access to resources held by others and enhanced revenue generation (Hoetker,
2005; Kale et al., 2000; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Portes, 1998). An important feature of
relational capital is its bilateral nature, which causes the value to be subject to the choices and
circumstances of others.
While specialization and relational capital are conceptually distinct, their inextricable linkages
challenge discernment of individual and interactive effects. For example, several papers in Mawdsley
and Somaya’s (2016) literature review on employee mobility and performance outcomes call on both
dimensions, but many are not able to distinguish their individual effects. Some of the work
aggregates the effects across the two (e.g. Corredoira and Rosenkopf, 2010; Groysberg, Lee, and
Nanda, 2008; Phillips, 2002); others invoke characteristics of one while theorizing about the other
(e.g. Campbell et al., 2012; Somaya et al., 2008). Empirically, the linkages also imply potential
confounding of measures. For example, in the knowledge spillovers literature (Rosenkopf and
Almeida, 2003; Song, Almeida, and Wu, 2003), Singh and Agrawal (2011) show performance
benefits attributed to enhanced learning among colleagues (a relational capital concept) are really a
result of mobile inventors continuing to build on their own prior knowledge (a specialization
concept). As a result, Mawdsley and Somaya (2016) note “The joint occurrence of different types of
human and relational capital… creates significant challenges for distinguishing between alternative
mechanisms…, and many research opportunities remain in clarifying and understanding the
interactions between these mechanisms” (p. 91). We address this need below.
Career Specialization
The decision to specialize has important implications for an individual’s depth of knowledge
(expertise), skills, and social relationships (Castanias and Helfat, 1991; Lazear, 2004; Leung, 2014;
Zuckerman et al., 2003). There are advantages to both specialization and generalization.
Specialization allows individuals to develop deep skills and expertise in a specific area (Becker, 1962;
Parsons, 1972; Rosen, 1983), and creates a clarity of identity (Leung, 2014; Zuckerman et al., 2003),
which acts as a signal of quality in labor markets (Becker and Murphy, 1992). The advantage to
generalization stems from the need for coordination and communication, and bridging across
distinct domains of knowledge (Cremer, Garciano, and Prat, 2007; Cusódio et al., 2013; Ferriera and
Sah, 2012; Karim and Williams, 2012; Murphy and Zabojnik, 2004).
The mixed evidence on returns to specialization suggests the effects may hinge on
moderating factors. Merluzzi and Phillips (2016) find when institutional and market conditions
ameliorate the need for signals, specialization results in a wage discount. Similarly, as individuals
progress in their career, generalists may outperform specialists (Murphy and Zabojnik, 2004;
Zuckerman et al., 2003). Castanias and Helfat (2001) propose generalists may be more valued in
deregulated and mature industries. Ferriera and Sah (2012) relate advantages of generalization to
greater complexity and hierarchies, because it increases the premium for coordination.
Most of the above moderating factors examine the effect of market or institutional factors
on the value of specialized or general knowledge possessed by individuals. Not examined, however,
is whether individual specific factors such as relational capital may moderate the relationship
between specialization and performance. We now turn to this next theoretical building block.
Upstream and Downstream Relational Capital
Studies of relational capital suggest a generally positive effect of being connected to others.
Relational capital results from individuals’ investments, through prior interactions, in building
mutual trust and goodwill, resulting in preferential access to resources through these connections
(Adler and Kwon, 2002; Burt, 1992; Coleman, 1990; Kale et al., 2000; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998)2.
While relational capital may also accrue in interactions within teams or alliances (Adner,
2006; Agarwal et al., 2016; Groysberg et al., 2008; Huckman and Pisano, 2006; Kapoor and Lee,
2013), we focus here specifically on upstream and downstream relational capital. Relationships with
upstream suppliers help enhance firms’ product and service offerings by increasing diversity of
knowledge base and access to resources (Hoetker, 2005; Mayer and Nickerson, 2005). Similarly,
individuals can leverage relationships with key suppliers for superior labor market outcomes
(Bertrand, Bombardini, and Trebbi, 2014; Krause, Handfield, and Tyler, 2007). At both levels of
2 Though the alliances literature invokes relational capital at the firm level of analysis, the mechanisms relate to
interactions among managers. Here, relational capital facilitates assurances against opportunistic behavior and improves
coordination and communication (Agarwal, Croson, and Mahoney, 2010; Gulati, 1999; Kale et al., 2000).
analysis, upstream relational capital contributes to value creation through differentiation and cost
efficiencies. Similarly, relationships with downstream clients provide enduring business and revenues
(Burt, 1992; Gabbay and Zuckerman, 1998; Podolny and Baron, 1997; Somaya et al., 2008).
Downstream relational capital enhances value creation for firms by improving trust and reducing
transaction costs (Broschak, 2004; Canales and Greenberg, 2015). For individuals, because client ties
are portable to other firms (Bermiss and Greenbaum, 2016; Carnahan and Somaya, 2013),
downstream relational capital can translate into increased likelihood of retention and promotion
(Krackhardt and Hanson, 1993), and increased external demand through job referrals (Fernandez,
Castilla, and Moore, 2000; Granovetter, 1973, 1985; Lin, Ensel, and Vaughn, 1981).
In summary, scholarly work on relational capital points to generally positive performance
effects. To the best of our knowledge though, interactions between specialization and relational
capital for performance consequences have not been examined, nor have the concurrent roles of
upstream and downstream relational capital for the focal actor. Our hypotheses development
focuses on the interactions between specialization and upstream relational capital, while also
examining how downstream relational capital as a mechanism impacts the performance effects.
Specialization and Decreases in Upstream Relational Capital
Consistent with the literature on relational capital, a decrease in upstream relational capital
should result in a decrease in performance (Bertrand et al., 2014; Blanes i Vidal et al., 2012; Carnahan
and Somaya, 2013). In addition to this main effect, we argue specialization buffers against decreases
in upstream relational capital. The sources of this insurance are twofold, relating first to deeper
domain expertise, and second to deeper embeddedness in downstream relationships.
First, specialization leads to deeper domain expertise (Becker 1985; Rosen 1983), which
retains its value even when upstream relational capital value decreases. Deep domain expertise
results in a closer fit to the resources needs of their clients (Baker, 1984; Bertrand et al., 2014; Eccles
and Crane, 1988). Given high costs of acquiring deeper domain expertise (Ferriera and Sah, 2012;
Rosen, 1983), the potential alternatives to a person with higher level of specialization may be more
limited than otherwise. In other words, the markets for individuals with higher levels of
specialization may be thinner than those with lower levels, and all else equal, these individuals will be
harder to replace. Thus, while decreases to upstream relational capital will adversely affect all
individuals, the higher marginal cost of replacing someone with a higher level of specialization will
buffer them against these negative effects.
Second, just as specialization leads to deeper domain expertise, it also leads to deeper
structural embeddedness with buyers in the area of specialization (Uzzi, 1997)3. We adopt a
definition of structural embeddedness akin to Karim’s (2012) definition, which refers to the
routinized coordination and tightly coupled market activities between actors4. A higher level of
specialization will result in deeper structural embeddedness, because of greater intensity of effort and
focus on each client (Bermiss and Greenbaum, 2015; Tyler and Stanley, 2001). Embedded ties with
clients, in contrast to purely arms-length ties, foster trust (Uzzi, 1996), encourage commitment
(Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh, 1987), enhance attachment (Seabright, Levinthal, and Fichman, 1992),
establish obligations (Burt, 1992; Coleman, 1990; Granovetter, 1985), and minimize opportunistic
behavior (Granovetter, 1985). Given a greater likelihood of downstream structural embeddedness,
clients will have more routinized coordination, tighter coupling, stronger attachment, and greater
dependence on individuals with higher levels of specialization. Because of lower transaction costs
and increased knowledge flows (Uzzi and Lancaster, 2004; Dyer and Singh, 1998; Ferriera and Sah,
2012; Rogan, 2014; Uzzi, 1999), this downstream embeddedness makes individuals who are more
specialized better positioned to realize the benefits from long lasting exchange relationships
(Bermiss and Greenbaum, 2015; Broschak, 2004; Rogan, 2014; Seabright et al., 1992). Therefore,
individuals who are more specialized will be buffered from the deleterious consequences of
decreased upstream relational capital (Granovetter, 1985; Seabright et al., 1992). In sum, given
greater domain expertise and greater structural embeddedness associated with higher levels of
specialization relative to generalization, we predict the following.
3 Note that Uzzi (1997)’s arguments for embeddedness as a liability in the face of a negative downstream relational
capital change are consistent with our logic, because the mechanisms at play relate to increased inter-dependence.
4 Karim (2012) uses structural embeddedness to discuss the relationship between business units and their parent firm.
We use the same underlying logic for the relationship between two distinct firms with an ongoing relationship.
H1: Individuals with higher levels of specialization will be less adversely affected by decreases in upstream
relational capital than individuals with higher levels of generalization.
Specialization and Increases in Upstream Relational Capital
In addition to direct benefits of increased relational capital (Bertrand et al., 2014; Somaya et
al., 2008), we predict individuals who are more generalized are better poised to exploit increases to
their upstream relational capital than those who are more specialized. An increase in upstream
relational capital serves as an infusion of a general purpose resource that has broad demand-side
applications. Although there may be high fixed-costs to acquiring the upstream relational capital, the
marginal cost of deploying it is low, given its relatively non-rival nature and potential fungibility
across multiple domains (Agrawal, Cockburn, and McHale, 2006)5. Upstream relational capital, like
many other intangible assets, does not obey the “law of conservation” (Teece, 1980: 226) because it
is both indivisible (Montgomery, 1994)6, and it may be used in several non-competing sub-markets
without significantly reducing its value (Montgomery and Wernerfelt, 1992). Thus, there exists the
potential to increase its utilization through expansion into new markets and segments, much like a
general purpose technology shock (Bresnahan and Gambardella, 1998). However, the ability to
expand into new markets and acquire new exchange partners may not be homogenously distributed
(Conti et al., 2016). Rather, there can be a threefold limitation due to the level of specialization,
stemming from knowledge, identity, and network position.
Just as a firm’s scope is limited by resources (Breschi, Lissoni, and Malerba, 2003; Penrose,
1959), an individual’s scope is limited by their knowledge domain. Generalized knowledge and
information apply to a broader set of sub-markets. The breadth of individuals who are more
generalized may allow them to be considered a satisfactory supplier in a larger number of sub-
markets, even if not the best supplier in any of them (Ferriera and Sah, 2012; Lazear, 2004). The
broad knowledge base associated with generalization allows for better leveraging of increases in
5 Relational capital is not perfectly non-rival, as there is a limit to the number of possible connections and benefits one is
allowed to extract from a relational tie. However, on the continuum from perfectly rival to perfectly non-rival, relational
capital is less rival than most other resources.
6 Notably, relational capital meets Teece’s (1980, 1982) qualification that the resource should be indivisible because
personal connections are difficult to transfer to others. Further, there are significant contracting problems with
intangible assets like relational capital (Caves, 1982; Wernerfelt and Montgomery, 1988).
upstream relational capital. Relatedly, higher levels of specialization constrain expansion into new
sub-markets because of a lack of requisite presence and identity (Padgett and Ansell, 1993; Phillips,
Turco, and Zuckerman, 2013; Zuckerman et al., 2003). Although individuals possessing greater levels
of generalization may be discounted in any one sub-market (Zuckerman, 1999), they are less likely to
face identity-based limits to market entry (Phillips et al., 2013). Finally, generalization also relates to
the ability to span a greater number of sub-markets, on account of being more centrally located in
the network of potential buyers. Network centrality has been linked to power (Brass, 1992), career
success (Lin et al., 1981; Marsden and Hurlbert, 1988), mobility (Podolny and Baron, 1997), and
resource acquisition (Tsai, 1998). Higher centrality enables the leveraging of existing ties (Gulati,
1995) and the creation of new ties (Tsai, 2000).
Accordingly, we predict higher levels of generalization to enable better utilization of
increases in relational capital; not only given existing presence in more sub-markets, but also because
of better ability to identify and exploit market opportunities to deploy relational capital.
H2: Individuals with higher levels of generalization will benefit more from increases in upstream relational
capital than individuals with higher levels of specialization.
EMPIRICAL CONTEXT AND RESEARCH DESIGN
The U.S. Federal Lobbying Industry: Brief Description
Lobbying is the process through which individuals and/or interest groups influence decision
makers in the legislative or regulatory process, and has an impact on trillions of dollars of public
policy activity every year. As a professional services industry, US Federal lobbying accounted for $3
billion in 2014 alone, with more than 12,000 lobbyists working either in one of the 2,000 lobbying
firms, or serving as in-house lobbyists for interest groups or firms.
Several features make the lobbying industry a favorable setting for our study. First, as with
other professional service contexts, the lobbying industry relies chiefly on individuals’ human and
relational capital (Bertrand et al., 2014). Second, there is a strong positive correlation between
individual and firm level measures of human/relational capital and performance. Third, it is possible
to measure a lobbyist’s specialization using the distinct issues (e.g. defense, transportation, etc.)
Description:downstream client base (Conti, Gambardella, and Novelli, 2016) and increased knowledge flows (Uzzi and Lancaster, 2004; Dyer and Singh, 1998
